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A Q Cards Game

5 Card Draw

Created by @hijoemartin

MoodFamiliar. Strategic. A little bluffy.

Players
2 to 10
Per Round
About 2 min
Cards
5 each
How to Win

Make the best poker hand using the years on your cards.

How to Lose

Have a worse hand than the winner.

Chapter One

The Setup

  1. Pick a dealer. The dealer is the person who shuffles and deals the cards.
  2. The dealer gives each player 5 cards.
  3. Pick up your own cards and look at the years. Keep your cards hidden from the other players (like in poker, your hand is yours alone).
  4. Place the rest of the deck in front of the dealer. They'll use it for card swaps.
The Bean is unveiled in Millennium Park
The Bean is unveiled in Millennium Park
2006
Each card has the event on one side and the year on the other. In 5 Card Draw, the years act like card values in poker. You use them to build hands.
Chapter Two

Who Goes First

The player to the left of the dealer goes first. After that, play moves around the table to the left.

Chapter Three

Playing a Round

  1. Look at your 5 cards and figure out the best poker hand you can make using the years (see Chapter Four for what counts as a hand).
  2. On your turn, you can swap up to 3 cards from your hand. Hand them to the dealer year hidden, and the dealer gives you the same number of new cards from the top of the deck.
  3. You only get one swap per round. Once everyone has had their turn to swap, all players reveal their hands.
  4. The player with the best poker hand wins the round!
  5. The first player to win 3 rounds is the Ultimate Champion. They shall be bestowed graces until a new champion is crowned.
Chapter Four

Poker Hands, Q Cards Style

Hands are ranked from worst to best. The further down the list, the better the hand.

Pair
Two cards from the same decade.
Two Pair
Two different pairs (e.g., two cards from the 1970s and two cards from the 2000s).
Three of a Kind
Three cards from the same decade.
Small Straight
Four cards from four decades in a row (e.g., 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s).
Big Straight
All five cards from five decades in a row.
Full House
A pair plus a three of a kind.
Four of a Kind
Four cards from the same decade.
Chapter Five

Tie-Breakers & House Rules

Q Cards players love inventing their own rules and naming them after each other. Here are the ones we've collected so far. Make up your own and we'll add it to the list.

Same Hand?

Time for a head-to-head face-off.

  1. Highest decade wins first. Compare the most recent decade in each tied hand. The newer decade takes it (e.g., a pair from the 2000s beats a pair from the 1980s).
  2. Still tied? The dealer gives each tied player one new card. Swap it into your hand for one of your old cards. Best 5-card hand wins.
  3. Still tied? Deal another. Repeat until somebody pulls ahead.
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